Phillies pitchers had a lot of trouble throwing strikes Tuesday night. They walked nine -- and hit a batter -- in a 9-6 loss to the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. The attendance was 28,826. It was the smallest crowd at Citizens Bank Park since April 3, 2008.

Interim manager Ryne Sandberg rested Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins and used a lineup dotted with reserves and young players under evaluation.

The Phils are 10-9 under Sandberg.

Starting pitching reportRookie right-hander Ethan Martin showed power stuff but continued to have control problems. He walked five and hit a batter in 4 2/3 innings. Two of the walks and the hit batsman eventually became runs. One of Martin’s walks came on four pitches with the bases loaded.

In seven big-league starts, Martin is 2-4 with a 6.90 ERA. He has walked 21 in 30 innings.

Lefty Gio Gonzalez went 5 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits and five runs, but only one was earned as his defense made three errors. Gonzalez walked three and struck out six.

Bullpen reportPhillies relievers allowed seven hits and walked four.

Washington’s bullpen allowed just one run in 3 1/3 innings. Rafael Soriano got the save.

At the plateRookie Cody Asche had three hits, including his third homer, and three RBIs for the Phillies.

Utley got a night out of the starting lineup. He had a pinch-hit single in the sixth.

Wilson Ramos got the Nationals going with a three-run homer in the second. It followed a hit batsman and a walk by Martin. Ramos also walked with the bases loaded for a fourth RBI. Denard Span had three hits for Washington.

In the fieldSloppy game. Washington made three errors.

Phillies third baseman Asche also made an error, which led to a pair unearned runs. Asche had not made an error in his previous nine games.